Soil and water district asked to keep Owasco Lake inspectors into 2018

The Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District will decide this month if it will keep the Owasco Lake Watershed Inspection Program for a while longer, after efforts to transfer its ownership have been delayed.

The Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council, a nonprofit corporation created in 2010 by the city of Auburn, town of Owasco and Cayuga County, was meant to oversee the inspection program. It was not administratively able to do so at its inception, so the district has been overseeing it in the interim.

In August, the council decided it was ready to run the inspection program, and made plans for a Jan. 1 transfer. The watershed council and the Owasco Town Board voted to do that, but the Auburn City Council has delayed voting, making the intended deadline unlikely.